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citrus flavors hide the sweetness of white chocolate in ganache. Bitter flavors too, like matcha green tea. Lior is kidding, but dark chocolate is not a bad answer either. One classic example is the mousse cake with 3 types of chocolate mousse. Another possibility is a chocolate candy with one layer of white chocolate ganache and a second layer of dark chocolate ganache.

ok, put me down for maybe. did you need people to bring equipment (like a melter) or did we have enough?

I might've missed it, but what's registration deadline? Max size?

I've had this happen too. If I have to leave it melting for a lot longer, and it'll eventually melt. then I use newer chocolate to seed.

Found this today which looks similar to the thermomix http://www.kenwoodworld.com/en/CookingChef/Home/ From kenwood, maker of stereo speakers (!) also some recipes which may be relevant, depending on if they are the same thing http://www.kenwoodworld.com/en/CookingChef/Home/Cooking-Chef-recipes1/ cut and paste from webite Create more...The new Kenwood Cooking Chef is the first appliance to fully combine food preparation and Induction cooking. This total food preparation concept will revolutionise the way you prepare - and cook - food. The new Kenwood Cooking chef has taken the well-known versatility of the CHEF a step further by introducing integrated Induction Cooking directly in the mixing bowl. Take a look at the key features and benefits of your new assistant in the kitchen. Powerful 1500W Planetary Mixing. 1100W Induction cooking system cooks directly in the mixing bowl. Large 6.7L bowl capacity with 3L cooking and mixing capacity - large capacity is perfect for families and entertaining. 20°C to 140°C temperature setting - accurate variable control for gentle warming to real cooking function. For proving dough to tempering chocolate, to making fudge. Continuous cooking and mixing function - a controlled stir or mix can be selected whilst cooking freeing time. Induction heating element - a safe, energy efficient and very controllable heat provides trust and great results. Display - Timer ranging from 5 seconds to 3 hours counting down or up - and temperature setting. New and unique bowl tools for mixing and cooking. 8 mixing speeds. Variable speed control - with slow speed stirring and a new intermittent stirring. keeping the consistency in your food without breaking it down. Food processor attachment included - with robust stainless steel chopping, slicing and shredding blades. Stainles steel blender attachment - included in pack with 1.5L high capacity is perfect for blending soups, purees or crushing ice. Safety interlocks on bowl, splashguard, head lift, outlet covers and heating function - for confident and intuitive operation. Steam basket - Fits on top of the bowl and can be used in the same way as a conventional steamer for vegetables, chicken, seafood and desserts.

Has anybody ever used these? I love my polycarbonate molds but these dinosaur molds are so cute. http://www.kitchenkrafts.com/product.asp?pn=CE7416 (dinosaurs) http://www.bakedeco.com/detail.asp?id=14029&manufacid=551&keyword=Silikomart (easter) They are made by silikomart, same people who make those red rubber flexipan type baking/molding things that I really like For example http://www.bakedeco.com/nav/brand.asp?manufacid=551 youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Kcdv-YPb4U

I think this dessert is more about showcasing your skills as a pastry chef than taste. Bo Friberg's book says this used to be the 'show me' cake - the 'audition' would be that you had to make a GSH in under 4 hours. You were given a puff pastry sheet, but you had to replace it afterwards. It showed off puff pastry, piping, choux paste, caramel skills and Chiboust is trecherous because it falls so easily. I think that's about what he says. I mean, the taste is good and all, but I think taste has come a long way in the last 20 years.

Chocolates travel well in vaccuum sealed bags. Regarding DanM's point,I have never gotten my chocolates confiscated on a plane. But I'll be sure they're frozen next time, just in case.

equipment - use of the enrober - use of the vacuum mixer, and how it changes things - use of the thermomix - scaling challenges, if any and how equipment changes (like those youtube videos of La Maison du Chocolate where they use gigantic things to make ganache) - examples how different pros package, make chocolate guide sheets, custom transfer sheets, and sourcing of materials for something like this (ditto Anna). I keep the chocolate "keys" of famous places I've been, but my collection is not complete for sure. shelf life/packaging - freezing (ditto Anna, talked about in Shott's course) - boxing (ditto Anna, shown in Wybauw's and Shott's course I think) molded chocolates, different techniques - backing - acetate/texture sheet backing - pretty backing in general - mine look terrible lot of the time. - advanced airbrush/spatter/coloring/luster techniques beyond just the regular pointilism spray or stripe via brush and I am not advanced enough at dipping to comment there. Ganaches have more advanced topics too, but I feel that they're easier to test out by yourself at home. Whereas, bringing out the melter, waiting overnight, cleaning up - the startup costs are a lot higher there.

*edit, saw that others already suggested fruit soups* Mango soup is common in Hong Kong. Could go with any number of fruit plates, but carved into shapes. Mostly agree with chefpeon though - can't expect it to be as imaginative as the regular menu when you wipe out 95% of the ingredients and techniques.

man, sorry I missed this one!

I think magnetic molds are easier in one big way - if you temper poorly, you can always poke out your chocolates. They will never get stuck, no matter how inexperienced you are. They are harder in a few ways. One, the magnetic molds I have are smaller, so piping ganache is harder. Two, the cavities are further apart, so making shells and backing them is harder.

My preference is to do it after removing from mold. I do see some chocolatiers do it in the mold or under the acetate on enrobed. If I do it this way, I get pits, which I don't like. But maybe it is by design.

thanks for that link!

Does it have to be chocolate? You could make something else instead, branching out if you will.

thanks to Ptipois for those notes and also to John for putting it all together!

Whole Foods near me carries the 'just' line of products that Steve mentions. Whole foods doesn't have powders, but you can use a coffee grinder or whatever to grind up the whole blueberries (strawberries, apples, etc...). The quality of their fruit is good, I give it thumbs up.

thanks for the pics!

Pierre Herme makes a white chocolate Matcha truffle covered with pistachios. THis is in his Larousse book I think. PH's book PH10 has a lot of recipes (all on the same theme) where he takes a single flavor combo - Matcha + some other flavors (can't remember now) - and puts them in cake, macaroon, ice cream, tart, and chocolate bonbon.

Ah, found this about the Banana Ganache recpie "This filling originally came from Norman Love; we've adapted it to be a little bit softer and slightly less sweet. I don't often use white chocolate-based centers, but this is one of my favorites." so there you go , those are the (approximate) changes. I'm bummed I missed out on Chef Laiskonis when he was still in MIchigan (where my parents live). Back then, I was just getting into Pastry. Oh well.

That's a great find on a lot of levels. - There's some pretty sweet stuff on that blog. - It's a banana ganache recipe. -It also gives an insight into the composition of Norman Love's recipes, who doesn't publish his recipes (I don't think).

thanks for that info!

Maybe you start with a known room temperature, known humidity, known starting temperature of the machine, and a known batch of chocolate. You assume if the machine is calibrated, the heating profile will be pretty much the same. In other words, maybe if you use the same starting conditions and same procedure, it works out the same every time.

Video isn't working for me right now, anybody describe the precautions you need to avoid air incorpoation?

Here is the cut+paste from Chef Greweling himself on the differences between different powdered glucose and powdered dextrose, which confirms what HQAntithesis said. Chef Greweling also gives an approximate reconstitution ratio, if you wanted to do that (20%). There are a couple of things to consider: "glucose syrup" is a very unfortunate name, because it is usually shortened to "glucose" Glucose is a synonym for Dextrose, which is a monosaccharide. Many industries, including medical, still use the name glucose for this sugar. (think blood glucose) Glucose syrup is made by the partial breakdown of polysaccharides in starch into shorter chains of dextrose resulting in varying degrees of sweetness, viscosity, tendency to brown, etc. So...Glucose syrup is not the same thing as glucose (the monosaccharide) resulting in much confusion. As for powdered glucose syrup....it is simply glucose syrup, which is usually ~20% water, with most of that water removed. it is available in different DEs just as glucose syrup is. This may also be known as atomized glucose syrup, and unfortunately, the name is commonly shortened to powdered glucose. Powdered dextrose is pure monosaccharide, and is an entirely different animal; essentially a 100 DE glucose syrup with the water removed. Yes, I would say the poster [egullet poster, student of Chef's] got this one right, but it is a confusing subject, and the post requires careful reading. If I can be of any further help to you, please do not hesitate to reach me at this e-mail address Best Regards, Peter P Greweling